VSL celebrates Arrival in Bicester

A firm at the leading edge of electric van development has taken a new 120,600 sq ft manufacturing building at Link 9 Bicester.

Arrival, which has an R&D centre in Banbury and offices in London, has taken a 15-year lease at Unit 1A Link 9, a mix of offices and manufacturing area which will be operational in 2021. Agent VSL agreed the deal for landlord RDI REIT Plc.

Arrival makes affordable, purpose-built electric vehicles for commercial customers and the Link 9 site will be what it calls a ‘microfactory’ for production to support the local market.

The company, just five years old, has just secured an £90m investment from South Korean car firms Hyundai and Kia which will fund the next stage of Arrival’s development. It has trialled prototypes with delivery companies including Royal Mail, DHL and DPD, as well as with BT. Arrival also received an order for 10,000 vehicles from logistics giant, UPS.

VSL director Tom Barton said: “The expansion of Arrival is truly impressive and a testament to the technology and investment confidence in the business model.

“We have an excellent relationship with the company and are delighted to have been able to secure a new for their manufacturing plant in Bicester to accommodate their continuing growth.”

Glenn Saint, chief of commercial vehicles of Arrival said: “Arrival is revolutionising electric vehicles with our Generation 2 solution that means customers can buy a purpose built electric vehicle for the same price or less than a petrol or diesel equivalent.

“Critical to making this possible is manufacturing in microfactories which can serve the local community and respond rapidly to local demand.”

The company is expanding its workforce globally and already has operations in the US, Germany, Russia, Netherlands and Israel. It also plans to build new microfactories near Los Angeles and New York.

Unit 1B at Link 9 is now available. The 168,058 sq ft space is at a quoting rent of £7.25 per sq ft. VSL, Colliers International and White Commercial are all marketing it.